Pump

ABSTRACT

A novel pump for food or other material which comprises a cylindrical shaped housing which slidably receives therein a cylindrical shaped piston. A longitudinal portion of the piston is removed and engages a sliding valve which is mounted in the cylinder. The sliding valve is formed with a depression in which a projection of the piston extends such that when the projection engages the slide valve it moves it between intake and outlet ports. The pump requires no springs or valve actuating structures other than the piston itself and thus a simple and sanitary pump structure is formed.

United States Patent 1191 Mills Aug. 21, 1973 PUMP [76] inventor: Archiew. Mills, 2941 s. Michigan f Ave" Chicago mi 60616 AssistantExqmmer-Leonard Smith Attorney-Hill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross & Simpson[22] Filed: Dec. 1, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 203,551 [57] ABSTRACT A novelpump for food or other material which com- [52] US. Cl. 417/520 prises acylindrical shaped housing which slidably re- [51] Int. Cl. F04b 7/04ceives therein a cylindrical shaped piston. A longitudi- [58] Field OfSearch 417/466, 51 l, 518, na] portion of the piston is removed andengages a slid- 417/520 ing valve which is mounted in the cylinder. Thesliding valve is formed with a depression in which a projectionReferences Cited of the piston extends such that when the projection en-UNITED STATES PATENTS gages the slide valve it moves it between intakeand 1,514,567 11/1924 O'Neill 417/466 Mlle The Pump requires Springsvalve 1,511,962 10/1924 Hanson tuating structures other than the pistonitself and thus 76,072 3/1868 Garaner a simple and sanitary pumpstructure is formed. 70,842 11/1867 Hirlinger..... 2,818,029 12/1957Petzold 417/511 5 7 Drawing Figures PUMP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention This invention relates in general to pumps and inparticular to a new and novel pump for transferring foods or otherliquids. It is particularly useful in transferring liquids in a foodestablishment which contain particles of solid food that would normallyclog up conventional pumps and which would prevent sanitationrequirements from being met.

2. Description of the Prior Art Conventional pumps used for moving foodsuch as soup, gravy and tomato catsup in present use cannot be easilytaken apart for cleaning and reassembling. Thus generally soups, graviesand tomato catsup are transferred from one large pot to a smallerreceptacle by pouring from the large pot into a smaller one. Anothermethod is to provide a spout on the larger pot and tilt the larger potto pour the liquid through the spout into a smaller receptacle.

It is expensive to mount large pots for tilting and transfer of the foodby dipping is undesirable because it is dangerous and can result inburns to the operator.

Some large pots have a spigot mounted at their bottom through which theliquid may be drawn but this method is not desirable because it resultsin the spigot being placed too low or the top of the pot being too highfor the contents to be stirred and compounded during the process ofmanufacture.

Thus, a need exists for an efficient and sanitary method of transferringliquids such as soups, gravies, tomato catsup and similar foods from alarge pot in which it is made to a smaller receptacle for distributionand consumption. A device which is simple in operation and which issanitary so that it will not clog up and become inoperative when smallparticles of solid food get into it is desirable. The device must alsobe capable of being taken apart, washed, sterilized and reassembled by aperson of average skill so as to quickly an inexpensively disassemble,clean and reassemble the pump.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The pump of the present invention comprises acylinder formed with a threaded cap member through which a piston rodextends and upon which a cylindricalshaped piston is mounted within thecylinder. A longitudinal portion of the piston is removed so as toprovide room fr a sliding valve formed with a depression in which aprojection of the piston extends so as to move the sliding valve betweenintake and output ports formed in the cylinder. A handle is mounted onthe end of the piston rod and as the piston is moved from one end of thecylinder toward the other end the slide valve is aligned with the intakeport and food is drawn into the cylinder by the suction created by themovement of the piston. As the piston is moved further toward the secondend, the projection on the piston engages the slide valve and moves itfrom the intake port to the output port. The piston is then moved fromthe second end of the cylinder toward the first end and as it does so itpushes the food which has been drawn into the cylinder out the outputport. Near the end of the stroke of the piston the projection on thepiston engages the slide valve and moves it from alignment with theoutput port to an alignment with the input port so that the cycle can berepeated.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pumpwhich is practical and effective to transfer liquids containing foodparticles from a large pot in which it is prepared to a smallerreceptacle for distribution and consumption.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pump which meetsthe high requirements of sanitation in food handling establishments.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readilyapparent from the following description of a certain preferredembodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,although variations and modifications may be effected without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure, andin which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side sectional viewillustrating the pump of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view illustrating the pump with the pistonmoving toward the left relative to the figure;

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the pump of the inventionillustrating the piston in the far left position relative to the figure;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line IV-IV in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line V-V in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the slide valve of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the pump housing taken on line VII-VII inFIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in sectionalview of FIG. 1 a cylindrical housing 1 is formed with a cylindricalopening 9 in which a piston 2 of generally cylindrical shape is mounted.The housing 1 is formed with an end wall 32 at one end and is threadedwith threads 33 which threadedly receive a cap member 30 which has athreaded portion 31. A piston rod 6 is attached to the piston 2 andextends through the cap 30 and has a handle 38 mounted on its end. Thepiston 2 is formed with a longitudinal cut so as to provide a flatmating surface which rides against a slide valve 3. The slide valve 3 isformed with a recess 16 in which a projection 10 of the piston 2extends.

As shown in FIG. 6, the slide valve 3 has a curved surface and a flatsurface against which the piston 2 slides. The end of the recess 16 atone end is designated by the numeral 12 and the end of the recess 16 atthe other end is designated by the numeral 15.

A lower portion 34 of the housing 1 includes an input port 4 and anoutput port 5.

An air vent 7 is formed through the cap 30 into the space 9 behind thepiston 2 and an air vent 8 is formed in the housing 1 in the portion 32and extends down to the slide valve 3 as shown.

In operation, the inlet port 4 is connected to a container from whichfood is to be transferred and the outlet port 5 is connected to acontainer into which food is to be transferred.

With the piston 2 in the position shown in FIG. 1 and with the valveport 13 aligned with the inlet port 4, the piston 2 is moved to the leftrelative to the figure which creates suction in the space 11 behind thepiston between the piston 2 and the end wall 32 so as to draw foodthrough the inlet port into the space 11 as shown in FIG. 2. As thepiston 2 is moved further to the left to the position shown in F IG. 3,the projection 10 engages the end 12 of the slide valve 3 and moves theslide valve 3 such that the opening 13 moves out of alignment with theinlet port 4 and into the alignment with the outlet port 5 as shown inH6. 3. Then the piston is moved by the handle 38 to the right relativeto FIG. 3 which will force the food in the space 11 between the piston 2and the end wall 32 out the outlet port 5. As the piston is movedfurther to the right relative to the figure, the projection will engagethe end 15 of the depression 16 and will move the slide valve 3 from theposition shown in FIG. 3 to that shown in FIG. 1 where the opening 13 isin alignment with the inlet port 4 and the cycle can be repeated byalternately moving the piston 2 to the left and right as described.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 7 are respectively sectional views taken on lines lV-IV,VV and VIl-Vll.

After use, the pump of the invention can be easily disassembled byremoving the cap 30 from the housing 1 to withdraw the piston 2 and theslide valve 3 so that they can be washed and sterilized and reassembledfor subsequent use.

It is to be noted that no springs are required to position or move theslide valve and that very few parts make up the pump.

Although the invention has been described with respect to a preferredembodiment, it is not to be so limited as changes and modifications maybe made which are within the full intended scope as defined by theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A pump comprising a tublular cylinder having end walls, a cylindricalpiston slidably mounted in said cylinder and having a longitudinalportion of the piston adjacent the cylinder side wall removed, a slidevalve conforming to the shape of the side wall and the removed portionof the piston and formed with a longitudinal slot in which a transverseport is formed, an inlet port and outlet port formed through thecylinder wall and positioned longitudinally of the cylinder wall toalign at different times with said transverse port, a projection formedon said piston which is receivable in said slot of said slide valve tomove the valve longitudinally of said cylinder, and one of said endwalls formed with an opening having a shape which conforms to said slidevalve and said slide valve is received therein.

2. A pump according to claim 1 wherein the other of said end walls isformed with an opening, and a piston rod attached to said piston andextending through the opening in said other end wall.

3. A pump according to claim 2 wherein said other end wall is threadedlyconnected to said tubular cylinder to allow said piston and valve to beremoved from said cylinder for easy cleaning.

4. A pump according to claim 3 comprising a pair of air vents with thefirst air vent extending through the cylinder into the space betweensaid other end wall and said piston and said second air vent extendingthrough said one end wall to said opening having a shape which conformsto said slide valve.

5. A pump according to claim 4 comprising a handle on the outer end atsaid piston rod.

1. A pump comprising a tublular cylinder having end walls, a cylindricalpiston slidably mounted in said cylinder and having a longitudinalportion of the piston adjacent the cylinder side wall removed, a slidevalve conforming to the shape of the side wall and the removed portionof the piston and formed with a longitudinal slot in which a transverseport is formed, an inlet port and outlet port formed through thecylinder wall and positioned longitudinally of the cylinder wall toalign at different times with said transverse port, a projection formedon said piston which is receivable in said slot of said slide valve tomove the valve longitudinally of said cylinder, and one of said endwalls formed with an opening having a shape which conforms to said slidevalve and said slide valve is received therein.
 2. A pump according toclaim 1 wherein the other of said end walls is formed with an opening,and a piston rod attached to said piston and extending through theopening in said other end wall.
 3. A pump according to claim 2 whereinsaid other end wall is threadedly connected to said tubular cylinder toallow said piston and valve to be removed from said cylinder for easycleaning.
 4. A pump according to claim 3 comprising a pair of air ventswith the first air vent extending through the cylinder into the spacebetween said other end wall and said piston and said second air ventextending through said one end wall to said opening having a shape whichconforms to said slide valve.
 5. A pump according to claim 4 comprisinga handle on the outer end at said piston rod.